Misantla is a city in the Mexican

state State most commonly refers to: * State (polity), a centralized political organization that regulates law and society within a territory **Sovereign state, a sovereign polity in international law, commonly referred to as a country **Nation state, a ...

Veracruz Veracruz, formally Veracruz de Ignacio de la Llave, officially the Free and Sovereign State of Veracruz de Ignacio de la Llave, is one of the 31 states which, along with Mexico City, comprise the 32 Political divisions of Mexico, Federal Entit ...

, the administrative seat of the

municipality A municipality is usually a single administrative division having municipal corporation, corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality' ...

''(

municipio A ' () or ' () is an administrative division in several Hispanophone and Lusophone nations, respectively. It is often translated as "municipality." It comes from ''mūnicipium'' (), meaning a township. In English, a municipality often is define ...

)'' of the same name. The municipality is bordered by

Martínez de la Torre Martínez de la Torre is a city and its surrounding municipality of the same name located in the central part of the Mexican state of Veracruz. The city had a 2020 census population of 64,692, while the municipality had a population of 108,842. The ...

, Colipa and Papantla. Misantla is located in the valley of the Misantla River in the

Sierra de Chiconquiaco The Sierra de Chiconquiaco is a coastal mountain range in Veracruz, Eastern Mexico. Geography The Sierra extends generally east-west. It is bounded on the north by the plain of the Nautla River, which empties eastwards into the Gulf of Mexico. ...

. Travelwise, Misantla is about from the beaches of the

Gulf of Mexico The Gulf of Mexico () is an oceanic basin and a marginal sea of the Atlantic Ocean, mostly surrounded by the North American continent. It is bounded on the northeast, north, and northwest by the Gulf Coast of the United States; on the southw ...

; however, the roads to the coast are not reliable. Misantla is located two hours north of

Xalapa Xalapa or Jalapa (, ), officially Xalapa-Enríquez (), is the capital city of the Mexico, Mexican List of states of Mexico, state of Veracruz and the name of the surrounding municipality. In 2020 census the city reported a population of 443,063 ...

(the capital of the state) on Veracruz State Highway 65, a most scenic mountain route, well-paved. Federal Highways 180 and 129 are on either side of it. Misantla has Pre-Columbian pyramid, located northwest of town. It is the municipal seat of several different communities such as Morelos, Guerrero, el Pozón, Buenos Aires, Arroyo Hondo, etc. In the local Native American

Totonac language Totonac is a Totonacan language cluster of Mexico, spoken across a number of central Mexican states by the Totonac people. It is a Mesoamerican language and shows many of the traits which define the Mesoamerican Linguistic Area. Along with ...

it means "place of the deer", although there are no longer deer in the wild. Misantla is over 450 years old, it was founded by the Spanish

conquistador Conquistadors (, ) or conquistadores (; ; ) were Spanish Empire, Spanish and Portuguese Empire, Portuguese colonizers who explored, traded with and colonized parts of the Americas, Africa, Oceania and Asia during the Age of Discovery. Sailing ...

s and the Native population. Weather in Misantla is very hot and humid. The main crops are coffee beans, oranges and corn. Misantla is not only an agricultural community but also people raise cattle for a living. In the city, vendors invaded the pretty streets with street commerce, thus street commerce is another very common activity. Misantla is also known as ''La Tierra del Cachichin'' ("land of Cachichin"). Cachichin is a very sour, unpleasant nut which used to be abundant; nowadays, however, the nut is steadily disappearing.

History

The region was originally populated by people of the Tajin or Totonaca culture. The Chiconquiaco Codex that records in 1542 the settlement was founded to concentrate and evangelize the natives. On August 25, 1544, the tax that Misantla had to pay in the town of Xalapa was fixed. On January 20, 1564, the day of San Sebastián, the population of San Juan Misantla moved, by decision of the Franciscans who evangelized the region, from the old place to the new one, at the junction of the Palchán and Misantla rivers. Two of the first Catholic evangelists in the region were

Toribio de Benavente Motolinia Toribio of Benavente (1482, Benavente, Spain – 1565, Mexico City, New Spain), also known as Motolinía, was a Franciscan missionary who was one of the famous Twelve Apostles of Mexico who arrived in New Spain in May 1524. His published writing ...

and Fray Buenaventura de Fuenlabrada, who lived in the town of

Chapultepec Chapultepec, more commonly called the "Bosque de Chapultepec" (Chapultepec Forest) in Mexico City, is one of the largest Nature Value Area´s in Mexico, measuring in total just over . Centered on a rock formation called Chapultepec Hill, one of ...

. The new foundation was called Santa María de la Asunción Misantla, although the first church built was dedicated to San Sebastián, being destroyed by a fire in 1565. Totonacs in the Misantla area as leading growers of high-quality vanilla pods dates from the eighteenth century. The body of Baruch Pérez León, commander of the municipal police department, was found near the Martínez de la Torre garbage dump on January 29, 2021. Pérez León had been reported missing the night before, and there were indications he had been tortured before he was shot. Police commanders in San Juan Evangelista and Huatusco had been assassinated in February 2019 and May 2020, respectively.

Notable people

* Digna Ochoa (1964–2001), human rights lawyer

Government

Municipal presidents

References

External links

*
Municipal Official Site
*
Municipal Official Information
{{Authority control Populated places in Veracruz Totonac sites Populated places established in 1564